Of Cats, Spirits, and Palm Trees
by BridgitKiido
Summary: A Fullmetal Alchemist and Mages crossover. Kima gets stuck as a cat and is somewhat adopted by Alphonse. Bridgit gets helped out by the spirit of Maes Hughes. Envy... well, he's just Envy. Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

**Of Cats, Spirits, and Palm Trees**

A Fullmetal Alchemist/Digimon: Elemental Mages Crossover

by Bridgitkiido

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I also don't own Digimon. Kima and Bridgit, however, are two of my Mages, so I own them.

* * *

_Chapter 1_

The rain poured down in buckets, causing all of the stray animals living in the streets of Central, Amestris to flee for shelter. Well, most of the animals that fled the rain lived in Central most of the time, anyway. The only exception was a little white kitten that hid in a rotting cardboard box.

But then, this particular white kitten was more than she appeared to be. The collar – a rainbow-colored band of knit wool with tiny orange gems scattered across the surface – was testimony to that. And Kima Kanara, currently transformed into her Crystamon form, was not your average cat _or_ human.

She was also extraordinarily annoyed.

Kima wasn't exactly sure what had happened. All she knew was that she and her older sister had been looking at books in their library at home when Bridgit found something. Kima hadn't gotten to see what, however, as there had then been a bright flash of light. Next thing she knew, she was… _here_, wherever here was, in her Crystamon form for some reason, and had no ability to change back to her human form. Why? Because one of her key tiger-eye shards had disappeared.

_So I'm stuck as a cat in the rain under this rotting cardboard box in a place I don't recognize,_ Kima thought miserably as she sunk to the ground. _How could this day get any worse?_

And then, the box gave way, exposing the young cat to the freezing rain. _Ah, so that would be how it could get worse,_ she thought even more pathetically.

As it would so happen, however, she was not the only one to enter this particular alley that night. Fairly soon, she heard the clunking of steel coming into the area, and nothing short of a suit of armor entered carrying a grocery bag. The boy inside the armor murmured to himself, "I hope Nii-san likes what I got for dinner. He's probably going to yell at me for buying milk though. I'll just tell him Winry made me. After all, he needs the calcium."

Kima's ear twitched as she looked up, staring in awe at this suit of armor. She had never seen anyone actually wearing one before, let alone doing their grocery shopping in one.

That, of course, is when the armor noticed the kitten. He walked over quietly and muttered, "Aww, so cute! Are you lost, little kitty?" He picked Kima up, much to her amazement and only slight discomfort. "Let's get you out of the rain. I'm sure Nii-san will let you stay with us for tonight if you're good." He then proceeded to remove his helmet, and bringing Kima close to the opening, he prodded her in, saying, "Go on, jump in. It's nice and dry in there. Don't worry, I won't rust."

Kima didn't jump in at first. After all, she may have been a cat in body, but her mind was still that of a human, and what she saw would make any human jump. This boy in the suit of armor… _had no human body inside the suit of armor!_

She looked around inside quickly to see how exactly this could be. However, she managed to notice a small red circle-like pattern inside the back of the armor. If she looked at it just right, she could have sworn it was giving off at least some sort of aura.

_I suppose that might explain things,_ Kima thought, recalling some of the research Bridgit had shown her. _Well, it's better than being stuck in the rain, anyway._ She leapt into the armor and found a comfortable spot. Although there was nothing inside the armor to warm the steel or anything, she felt comforting warmth from within.

"There you go, little kitty," the armor said happily as he placed his helmet back on. "Now, let's go home to where Nii-san is and get you something to eat."

* * *

_Author's Note: -is frying pann'd- I know no one's probably going to read this…after all, it's a short first chapter, coupled with the fact that it has my mages in it… but if you do happen to read this, could you please leave me even a small review telling me what you think? (I'm going to try and keep most of the digimon stuff out of it!)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Of Cats, Spirits, and Palm Trees**

A Fullmetal Alchemist/Digimon: Elemental Mages Crossover

by Bridgitkiido

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I also don't own Digimon. Kima and Bridgit, however, are two of my Mages, so I own them.

A Quick Note on the Timeline: I forgot to put this in the first chapter, but… This story takes place on the manga timeline of Fullmetal Alchemist, somewhere in or around chapter 34-ish. There will be spoilers up through there, which really only affects you if you don't know what happens to Hughes or who Ling is. On the Mages timeline, it can be placed really anywhere after chapter 11. Of course, it's not as though anyone cares or anything, but…

* * *

_Chapter 2_

Kima, meanwhile, was not the only one having difficulties.

There was a small graveyard on a hill surrounded by trees. The rain somehow managed to miss this area completely, or it might have possibly just passed over a while ago. The latter is probably more plausible, due to the excessive amount of dew on the grass. In front of one of the graves, a few red sparkles twinkled in the air, although most people didn't seem to notice that very much, as this being a graveyard, supernatural things were said to happen almost every day. Of course, most of these rumors were false, but the sparkles existing were particularly plausible, mostly due to the grave they stood in front of.

But then, Maes Hughes had not died a typical death.

The spiritually inclined might often see his spirit standing there, staring straight at his own grave stone. He was always wearing the same thing: a long brown cloak draped over his back, covering his uniform, that of a Lieutenant Colonel in the Amestris military. His grave said otherwise, but then he had only been promoted to Brigadier General for being, as they called it, _killed in action_.

Why he stood there, no one quite knew for sure. Some thought that he was waiting for someone and thus had not been able to pass on. Others thought that he had yet to come to terms with his own death. While the latter is probably more on the truthful side and the entire truth is probably quite interesting, this story is, unfortunately, not one to discuss Maes Hughes' feelings about his demise.

Which is why we now bring young Bridgit Kanara into the story.

It was not Bridgit's day. First, the one book in the entire library that looked even remotely interesting just _had_ to contain a portal to another dimension or something. Or at least another time and/or place. Perhaps, she speculated, this entire incident could have been prevented had she not accidentally touched her necklace to the page, but that could hardly have been all of it. Second, she had awoken in this graveyard, Kima not in sight, but with a single shard of tiger-eye (obviously belonging to her sister) sitting nearby on the ground. So, Bridgit had to carry that shard around with her until she found Kima and could give it back to her. Third, said shard of tiger-eye was messing with Bridgit's own powers. It wasn't as though she couldn't use any of her powers or anything like that; however, her scrying was mucked up, so she couldn't divine Kima's exact position. Which was a big pain in the you-know-where. (She had, however, been able to determine that her little sister was in her Crystamon form and, quite obviously, unlikely to be able to transform back without this single important shard. Of all the shards it could have been…)

The graveyard was nearly empty on this overcast and almost raining day; however, Bridgit happened to notice a single man standing on the hill staring at a grave stone. Thinking that she could ask if he had seen a little white cat run by, she walked toward the man. "Excuse me, sir," she called. "Would you happen to have seen a little white cat run by?"

Maes looked up, slightly shaken. "You can see me?" he wondered aloud.

"Yes," Bridgit stated, slightly agitated but noticing that the man was, in fact, somewhat translucent. "I'm more or less clairvoyant, so I can see everything. And I can usually hear what I see, too, but that isn't of any importance."

Maes was slightly shaken. "I'm supposed to be dead, you know."

"Doesn't bother me. So, have you seen a little white cat run by?" She gestured appropriately as she described, "She's about yea tall by yea long, with a collar knit from rainbow-colored yarn and sprinkled with tiger-eye gems."

Maes thought for a moment, and then he said, "Actually, yes, I did. When I was walking around a bit earlier, I saw a cat just like that sitting in one of the alleys. I can show you where, if you want."

"Thank you, sir," Bridgit replied, smiling. "That's very kind of you."

"The name's Maes Hughes, by the way."

"And I'm Bridgit Kanara."

And so the two of them walked out of the graveyard toward where Maes had seen the cat.

* * *

Of course, as the two of them walked towards the place, they had to pass through the outskirts of Central. And, almost due to an associative property of sorts, this meant that the pair had to travel right past a certain small house where a little girl, no older than three and a half, was playing quietly in front. The rain had passed a little while ago in this area, but the little girl still wore a rain coat.

As Bridgit and Maes passed, Maes looked longingly towards that little house for a moment, but then he dropped his eyes and covered his head with his hood.

"What's wrong, Mr. Hughes?" Bridgit asked quietly as the man ducked into a corner. However, she shortly realized exactly what was going on when the little girl cried "DADDY!" and pounced in the general direction of where the pair had been.

Which, naturally, meant that Bridgit was knocked to the ground.

Gracia Hughes had been cooking dinner when she heard Bridgit's muffled cry of surprise outside. Suddenly taking more interest in what was happening outside than the pasta cooking on the stovetop, she rushed out the door only to find Elysia sitting, a confused expression on her face, on top of a brunette girl who was obviously not very accustomed to being in this position.

"Oh my," Gracia said as she ran down the steps and picked Elysia up. "I'm sorry," she told Bridgit with a quick bow of respect. "I don't know what got into my daughter."

"That's alright," Bridgit replied, getting up. "This happens all the time with my dog at home. No big deal."

"I'm still sorry, though." Gracia then turned towards her daughter. "What were you doing, Elysia?"

"I'm sorry," Elysia replied sadly. "I saw Daddy over there, but when I went over to go hug him, he wasn't there anymore and I instead knocked over this lady."

"What happened to him?" Bridgit asked, slightly intrigued.

"Well," Gracia replied sadly, "he was in the military, in the investigations department, but one night he went out to work and never came home. I discovered the next morning that he had been shot trying to call his superior."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Bridgit said quietly. "I know how it feels to have someone you care about pass away."

* * *

_She cried and cried. "Why did it have to happen to you?" she asked rhetorically. "They were targeting me. Why did they do this to you?"_

_A gentle hand was placed upon her shoulder. "He's in a better place now, don't worry."_

"_No he's not," she replied loudly. "How can anywhere be better than here? I know he didn't want to be killed!"_

"_Now, honey," another voice said soothingly, "the coroner didn't find any proof that he was actually killed. According to his – "_

"_You weren't there!" she interrupted. "I saw it happen! I saw the knife. I saw the blood. I saw everything! And they were going after me next! They would have gotten me as well if Noriko hadn't called the police! And you say there isn't any proof?"_

* * *

Bridgit shook herself. These were not memories she exactly wanted to recall. "Sorry, but I have to get going now. I have to find my sister."

"Sorry about everything," Gracia stated once again.

"That's alright," Bridgit replied, smiling as she walked off.

After Bridgit had left, Elysia turned to her mother. "I know I saw Daddy," she said earnestly. "I know I saw him, Mommy. I just know it!"

"Sweetie," Gracia started, tears welling up in her eyes just like whenever anyone else brought up her deceased husband.

"He's not gone, Mommy, I know I saw him! I did!" There was a sort of almost pleading in her voice. "He's still here! Why won't he come home, Mommy?"

"Elysia…"

* * *

Bridgit wandered farther down the street until she found Maes, who had been hiding in an alley. Tears were streaming down from his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Bridgit asked, concerned.

Maes wiped his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine. I just couldn't bear to see them right now. It's hard enough having to leave my family behind to begin with." He straightened his glasses. "But enough about that. Let's keep going. The alley where I saw your cat is just up ahead."

* * *

_Author's Note: As I thought… not very popular at all… oh well, I want to get this down, so even if no one else reads this, I'm writing it so that I can get it down. Besides, anyone who does read this will notice that it will both tie in with _Excessive Pride_ and give sneak previews for _Digimon: Elemental Mages _not available anywhere else. Not that anyone actually cares or anything, after all, this story's received all of 9 page views so far, but… if you have bothered to read this, could you please leave a review? Even a short little note saying "Good Job" or "I hate it" works._


	3. Chapter 3

**Of Cats, Spirits, and Palm Trees**

A Fullmetal Alchemist/Digimon: Elemental Mages Crossover

by Bridgitkiido

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I also don't own Digimon. Kima and Bridgit, however, are two of my Mages, so I own them.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to a male friend of mine who turned 16 today. I won't mention your name here for privacy reasons, but Happy Birthday!

* * *

_Chapter 3_

Roy Mustang was not in the most cheerful of moods.

Of course, his best friend had died only about a month or two before, and when his naïve subordinates had come to see the visit Brigadier General, Roy had hid the truth from them, hoping to let them continue their own quests without that weighing on them. Unfortunately, that did nothing to relieve the weight from his own shoulders.

At this current time, Roy was wandering the alleyways. Some would think he was doing so aimlessly, but he actually _did_ have his own agenda. As such, he managed to catch the tail end of the conversation between a young girl and… someone. Roy couldn't see anyone else, but the girl was waving toward the exit of the other side of the alley, calling, "Bye, sir! Thank you, and please remember my advice!"

Roy waited a moment after the girl put her arm down, and then asked, "Just wondering, Miss, who were you talking to?"

She turned around, noticed the Colonel, and simply smiled. "A friend. He told me where I could find my lost cat, and so I just gave him some advice in return. In fact, it wouldn't hurt if you knew as well." She walked past him, but as she was passing, she stated, "When it comes to decisions, follow what your own heart tells you. Then, what you do will be true to who you are." She then walked onward, murmuring to herself, "Now I just need to pick up her trail…"

Roy stood there for a second, but then he sighed. He didn't really have time for this. After all, if his plan was going to work, he needed to find the perfect location.

* * *

"I'm back, Nii-san," the armor called, closing the door to the hotel room and placing the bag on the table. "I brought the groceries."

"Thank you, Al," the armor's brother replied. "I'm starving." He plopped down in a chair at the table and fished a small roll out of the bag, taking no hesitation in beginning to gnaw away at it.

Al giggled slightly before removing the milk from the bag and taking it to the small kitchen area. Checking back to see if his brother was following him, Al then removed his helmet and allowed Kima to leap out. As soon as she hit the ground, she looked up at the armor and purposely, yet softly, mewed.

"Not so loud," Al shushed her. "If you're too loud, Nii-san might hear you."

"I might hear what?" Al turned around quickly to see his brother standing in the doorway, a frown on his face. "I came in here to see if I could start some coffee brewing, and I find that you've brought back a cat."

"But Nii-san," Al pleaded. "It was raining, and the cardboard box she had been sleeping under had caved in, and she just looked so lonely… can't we _please_ let her stay for the night?"

The blond boy sighed. "Fine, Al, you win. But just for tonight. As soon as morning comes and it stops raining, she goes back outside. Got it?"

"Oh, thank you, Nii-san!" Al couldn't show any emotion, but if he had been able to, he would have been glowing with happiness. He then turned to Kima and said, "Now let's get you something to eat."

Several minutes later, a small dish was placed on the floor with a small quantity of milk in it (Al received a glare from his brother for even _thinking_ of buying milk), and Kima was lapping it up happily. After all, she may have been vegetarian, but that didn't stop her from having dairy.

The blond stated, "You know, Al, you can't bring along every stray you see on the street."

"I know, Nii-san," Al replied sadly.

Kima then finished her milk. Sighing, she then made the most horrible mistake that one in her position could make:

She spoke. "Ah, that was refreshing."

She caught herself before saying anything else, flinching back slightly, but that didn't stop the brothers from hearing that. The younger pointed at her and asked, "Nii-san, did she just... _talk?_"

Kima attempted to correct her mistake by saying, pointedly and deliberately, "Mew."

"Don't try to hide it, cat," the blond said tackling her and pinning her to the ground. "We know you can talk."

Kima sighed. "I suppose hiding it now wouldn't accomplish much then, huh."

* * *

_Author's Note: I am so sorry this is up so late. However, I wasn't expecting that I would receive the response I did. Two reviews! Thank you so much, mikeala12 and Alenia Shadows! I hope this new chapter is to both of your liking._


	4. Chapter 4

**Of Cats, Spirits, and Palm Trees**

A Fullmetal Alchemist/Digimon: Elemental Mages Crossover

by Bridgitkiido

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I also don't own Digimon. Kima and Bridgit, however, are two of my Mages, so I own them.

* * *

_Chapter 4_

Bridgit smiled as she ran. She had finally managed to pick up at least a slight bit of Kima's trail and was currently following it. It was fairly strong, too, so she didn't have to worry about losing it. With any luck, said trail was only an hour or two old at most and she would be reunited with her sister within the next hour.

Unfortunately, luck did not appear to be on her side, for in her haste, Bridgit accidentally ran into a particular boy. A somewhat feminine boy with long, black hair that, had it been green, would have looked suspiciously like a palm tree.

"Oh, pardon me," Bridgit apologized, getting up. "I suppose I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Damn right you weren't," the boy replied, dusting himself off. "Next time, be a little more careful, little missy."

"Little missy?" Bridgit repeated, agitated. "Okay, firstly, I'm taller than you. So don't call me 'little missy' ever again." She emphasized the words 'little missy' with air quotes. "And second, you're a very rude person. I apologized, so you're supposed to accept my apology."

"And what if I don't care?" the boy shot back. "Just for talking back to me, I'm not going to let you go through."

"Tch. Like you can stop me." Bridgit attempted to walk past him, but no matter how fast she walked, he continued to get in her way. "You know, I'm just going to get past you anyway, so there's really no point."

"Aww, but I wanted to have a little _fun_ with you first," the boy replied, smirking evilly as he placed one hand on his hip and extended his fingers in a nasty way.

"Oh, you're looking for a fight?" Bridgit observed. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but even if I _did_ feel like fighting you, I'd win. So there's no point. I'll just find another way around." She turned around to leave.

What she did not expect was to be pinned to the ground two seconds later by the boy, who seemed to enjoy sitting on her back and causing her intense pain. "Oh, so you want to play _that_ way, huh?" the boy teased.

"Guess what," Bridgit replied, "I'm not playing." She then managed to grab hold of one of the boy's arms and bit down.

Hard.

Said boy then yelped in pain and was forced to let go, allowing Bridgit to escape. The boy then looked up from his arm and glared at her, saying, "You're one tough lady."

He then ran toward Bridgit, who was standing still a little ways up this particular alley. Unfortunately for him, he passed right through her… or at least, the image of her. After he got his bearings back, the boy saw the real Bridgit running in the other direction.

"So, you're an alchemist who can do illusions," the boy observed. "That makes things different."

_I suppose that's one way of putting it here_, Bridgit thought as she ran. She had run quite a ways when who should she run into but…

Maes Hughes.

With her abilities, Bridgit was able to immediately distinguish the fact that he was fake (although the fact that she had met his "ghost" – she wasn't quite sure that he was actually a ghost, but oh well, _c'est la vie_ after all – helped out as well), and stated, "Well, I didn't realize there were people out there with similar abilities as my sister. Now, if you would just stop preventing me from going forward…"

"How could you tell?" the boy said as he transformed back into his palm-tree-like self. "This time, I was certain I had all the details right. No distinguishing moles or anything like that…"

"Call it intuition," Bridgit replied. "Now, if you will excuse me…"

She began to walk quickly past him, but he grabbed her by the arm. Immediately, she swept around and punched him in the face with her other arm, and as the boy was getting up, she stated, "I told you. If I was fighting you, I'd win." She then walked calmly away.

"This girl is getting on my nerves," the palm-tree-like boy stated. "I think I'll follow her and see about causing her some havoc."

* * *

"Alright, so what's your story?" the blond boy asked Kima as he held her by her neck.

"Nii-san!" Alphosne cried out. "You'll hurt her that way!"

"How are you so sure it really _is_ a she, Alphonse?" the blond yelled at his younger brother. Turning back to Kima, he asked, "So, go ahead and explain already."

"I'm not really a cat," Kima managed to squeak. "I'm a girl by the name of Kima. I have the ability to change my DNA at will into that of any animal with alchemy." Well, it wasn't the _entire_ truth, but how exactly was she supposed to explain to a couple of alchemists that her powers came from the tiny pieces of tiger-eye on her headband?

"So, prove it," the blond said. "Turn back into this girl you speak of."

"I can't right now!" she cried. "Don't you think I've already tried?" Drawing from the small amount of knowledge she had on the subject, she explained, "I can't very easily draw circles in this form, so I have my headband – well, it's more like a collar in this form – with gems placed in just the right places so that it makes the equivalent of a circle. But one of the key stones fell off in my travels, so I can't! Besides, you're strangling me…"

"Nii-san! Give her some air!"

"Fine, Alphonse." The blond dropped her to the ground.

Kima coughed a little, but otherwise was able to get her breath back fairly quickly. "You're not a cat person, are you sir?" she murmured.

The blond boy turned to Alphonse, who asked, "So, what do you think?"

"She's probably Envy in disguise."

"You don't know that for sure, Nii-san! She's probably telling the truth!"

"How many alchemists are there who can transmute their own DNA?"

"You don't see many alchemists like the Colonel, either, making fire by just snapping their fingers."

"Yes, well, that's just how that bastard Colonel is. Besides, you never answered my question."

"Well, why would Envy transform into a cat and sit out in the rain just to spy on us? I should think he'd prefer humanoid forms."

"We still can't dismiss that possibility."

"We still can't dismiss the possibility that she's telling the truth!"

"…Fine, Al, you win," the blond replied, obviously defeated and not happy about it. "She can stay over night, but you need to keep a close watch on her, you understand? And she goes back outside in the morning, regardless of the weather."

"Thank you, Nii-san!" Alphonse replied happily. He then turned to Kima and said, "Okay, Nii-san says that you can stay here for tonight. But you have to be good and not cause trouble, okay?"

"Of course," Kima replied. "Thank you so much!"

* * *

_Author's Note: Whee… making Envy all immature and out of character is all part of the fun of tormenting him for the events of chapter 15. …ahem. Sorry for the long wait. I got a bad case of writer's block for this… but the next chapter _should_ be out sometime before the middle of September. Hopefully. If I don't get too swamped with other stuff. Until I write the next chapter, though, please leave a small review!_


End file.
